Aviva Abramovsky isn’t interested in being insular. She envisions a modern law school that bridges into the community, informing its curriculum and creating scholars with real-world experience.

She’ll bring that experiential philosophy as the new dean of University at Buffalo School of Law, making her one of the most prominent voices in the local legal community and at UB.

“Being a lawyer isn’t just about being book smart anymore, it’s about being business-smart,” Abramovsky said. “Making sure graduates are prepared for job markets and 21st-century employment opportunities is one of my top priorities.”

Abramovsky earned her bachelor’s degree in labor and industrial relations from Cornell University and her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and has been a faculty member at Syracuse University College of Law since 2004, where she is currently the associate dean for international initiatives and Kaufman Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Abramovsky specialized in creative programming at Syracuse, including a variety of international programs.

In July, she’ll take over leadership of a law school that has been run for about two years by interim dean James Gardner, who replaced Makau Mutua. Both Gardner and Mutua remain faculty members.

Like other law schools across the country, UB has had significant post-recession enrollment issues, seeing its student population fall from 650 to 498 between the 2012 and 2016. The law school has dropped from 87th to 100th to 106th the last three years in the closely-watched U.S. News & World Report rankings.

Paul Tesluk, dean of UB’s School of Management, led the search for a new law school dean. He said Abramovsky was chosen out of dozens of qualified candidates identified by an outside search firm, but she quickly rose to the top for her vision of an engaged law school.

“One of the things that was particularly notable about Aviva were the programs she developed at Syracuse,” Tesluk said. “We were looking for a leader with a vision around innovation, and we are very confident Aviva will be able to do that.”

Abramovksy said she’ll come into the position with an open door philosophy and extend a broad invitation to the Buffalo community, seeking ideas for new programs and ideas for the evolution of the law school. Her leadership, she added, will have a spirit of collaboration between administrators, faculty, students and the community.

“One of the things I’m looking forward to in my maiden year is having the opportunity to meet with various stakeholders in the business community,” she said. “I want to hear what they want a law school to do in the community.”

Abramovsky characterized herself as an “enormous” fan of externships and generally expanding the nature of what it means to be a law student. She said the goal is to build a “comprehensive and sophisticated portfolio” that reflects a graduate’s professional capacity.

She acknowledged that part of her job is to drive improvement in the rankings, but said that’s mostly a symptom of the broader need to improve outside perception of the school.

“The important thing is recruiting the most impressive cohort of students and articulating why the value proposition at UB makes it the best choice for them” she said. “The school is made up of incredible intellectuals who do a first rate job of educating students.”